Monthly Archives: August 2013

Greetings! It has been awhile, and I apologize for leaving on such a downer of a post. Things got a little crazy on my end since then: finished an internship, moved back into my residential college at Rice University, and am currently attending advisor training for Rice’s orientation week.

Forgive me if this is strange or rushed – I’ve written between very short breaks and at very odd hours.

Also, it is significantly stranger to be blogging here. I’m still readjusting to the switch from home back to campus, and I’m in an introvert mode. To all the students around me right now: IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S ME. YOU GUYS ARE TOTALLY COOL.

Plus, a majority of my friends are here, so my examples from here on out might get a little vague so as to not offend anyone.

This entire summer, I worked in a neat corporate setting. Dressed business casual, experienced elevator chat, had my own cubicle, and of course…learned about the break room.

Once a week at the minimum, there was some type of treat in the break room for all the office folk of the floor. Donuts one morning, candy the next, leftover cookies, someone’s extra meatballs, and there was even a pecan pie in there (at 8 AM!) once. Needless to say, each time I walked by was a battle of willpower.

This is a really common occurrence in most work settings, I think. And in college, it’s exactly the same! No matter where you go, you will encounter the presence of food you don’t truly want or need to eat.

So, you’ll need to decide on your game plan ahead of time. What are your goals? Eating clean, losing weight, avoiding health complications (especially if you have a condition or disease that requires a special diet)? Alright, and how are you going to accomplish these goals? Are you going to prepare all of your food yourself, are you going to workout more, will you be careful to pick safe food options?

What helped me specifically in the office atmosphere was to avoid desks or areas that I knew had candy bowls, since we all know how much I love sweets. However, I did need to go to the break room to refill my water bottle constantly, so I only went in to 1) get water or make tea or 2) grab my pre-planned lunch or snack. More often than not, this helped me resist the extra temptations: I’d either feel full from the liquids I drank, or I knew I had something healthier to eat instead.

On the flip side, sometimes the donuts in the office looked really, REALLY good, so I made a deal with myself: I cut it in half and counted it as my daily dessert. To my surprise, I was actually content with that!

In college, it is a different matter. I won’t lie – I’ve been back for less than a week, and I’ve already eaten more sweets than usual (including a HUGE slice of cake at 10pm…not going to have time to work that one off!). We’ve been super busy and we go long stretches without eating anything, so when the main meals roll around, we are starving.

On a personal level, I tend to be ultra careful about what I pick at breakfast and lunch, and then I end up eating entirely too much at dinner because of the way I restrict myself.

But again, this is avoidable with pre-planning and reaffirming your goals.

In my case, during the weekend before classes start, I’ll be taking a trip to a grocery store to stock up on almonds, cheese, and soy milk. They’re personal favorites, and will ensure I have a constant supply of healthy snacks to eat in-between meals or during nighttime events. I’m not doing this to make people feel guilty about what they’re eating, or to be obnoxious or weird. I just want to eat healthier so that I can lose some weight, feel confident, and live the active lifestyle I enjoy.

As a final note, just as the above article mentions, it is important to focus on the positive aspects of tomorrow and your goals, and not the mistakes of the day.

As the days progress, you can bet on late-night food runs, many study breaks, birthday celebrations, and other meetings or events with free food galore! You can’t always avoid the food, but you can prep yourself to be successful for when you do encounter temptations. And if you “slip-up” or indulge a little too much one night, it is not the end of the world.

Just remember why you don’t (or do!) want that piece of cake, or that cookie, or those extra chips. It won’t be the first or last time you see that type food, but if you’re going to eat it, then at least enjoy it. Make up for it the next meal by eating something nutritious, or go for a long walk later and get some exercise in. You can do it!